Resignation of DA Raises Possibility of Postponement Of Election

District Attorney Ken Mauldin’s announcement last week that he would resign on Feb. 29 rather than retire at the end of his current term in December has scrambled plans for the election of a successor and given Gov. Brian Kemp control over the outcome.

Before that announcement, Deborah Gonzalez and Brian Patterson were contending for the Democratic nomination for district attorney in the May 19 Democratic primary. No one has declared for the Republican Party nomination.

With the Mauldin announcement, Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, has the ability to appointment a replacement for Mauldin, a Democrat. Mauldin represents the Western Judicial Circuit of the Superior Court, made up of Oconee and Clarke counties.

If Kemp makes that appointment by May 3, the state would hold a special election on Nov. 3 to replace Mauldin.

The special election would be without a primary, and Gonzalez, Patterson and any other candidate could run against each other, using the party label she or he chooses.

If Kemp makes the appointment after May 3, the November election would be bypassed, and the district attorney appointed by Kemp would remain in office until an election in November of 2022, when Kemp also is likely to be on the ballot.

If Kemp does not make the appointment by Feb. 29, when Mauldin steps down, Patterson, who currently serves as chief assistant district attorney, would take over the duties of district attorney, according to state law, “until such official's successor is appointed or elected and qualified.”

Gonzalez has launched an aggressive campaign to urge Kemp to appoint a district attorney by May 3 so there is an election in November. Mauldin also has said in a news release that he asked Kemp to make the appointment “in time for there to be an election this year.”

For more on this story, with a background on the legal issues involved, please go to Oconee County Observations.